 School Email Newsletter Click here to sign up to our mailing list and start receiving school news and information via email.  
|
AudiRobert Orford, OMT, Audi Young Designer Robert Orford, Audi Young Designer
Orford qualified for a place in the Final by winning a regional heat at Whetstone Audi. His prize was a trip to Audi’s hi-tech car plant in Ingolstadt near Munich, Germany, which Robert visited earlier this month. He designed a wheelchair propulsion aid for the nationwide competition that was open to second year A-level Design and Technology students throughout the UK.
"I worked with disabled children which is the reason I chose to design a wheelchair that is easier to propel by its users. I’ve tested my prototype and I believe that my ‘pump jam’ design to ease propulsion makes it up to 40% easier to use. Ultimately I’d like to see my wheelchair design being marketed to organisations like the NHS and I see no reason for this not to happen - it will offer wheelchairs users a lot more freedom which at the end of the day must be a good thing." Orford will now spend four weeks at an Audi Design Centre studying with the German manufacturer’s world leading design team. Audi Design Foundation Manager Michael Farmer commented: "Our winner can certainly be proud. The standard of the initial 600 entries was extremely high and the diverse range of ideas of the 28 ultimately selected for the Final made it very difficult for our judges to choose a winner! The overall quality says a great deal about the talent that the British design industry can look forward to when they have finished at University." Robert will also receive paid work experience, either in the UK or USA, during all University holidays plus a £500 bursary every year whilst at University. It is also likely that the winner, depending on examination results, will be offered employment with innovative product development company, Virdev. The judging panel comprised of internationally acclaimed designers - including renowned Audi designer Romulus Rost and British design "guru" Richard Seymour – plus senior business figures from the North East. Other sponsors of the inaugural awards at the Baltic included North-East based Express Engineering, One North East, Knowledge Campus, Virdev and TDR (Training & Development Resource). In addition to Orford claiming the Audi Foundation National Design title, London ’s Greg Misson won the separate "Mind to Market" Award sponsored by the Gateshead -based Express Engineering worth almost £10,000. His winning project was a fisherman ’s hook tie design device. |
Opportunities at MTS  Want to teach Art, Chemistry or Geography at MTS? Details here Week A or Week B?  24-28 Nov is a Week A Autumn Timetable Open Morning  Our next Open Morning is 16th May, from 10 to 12:30. No need to book. Just come along!
Plan your morning |
|||||
Robert Orford, from Watford, was "crowned" the Audi Design Foundation "National Young Designer of the Year" last weekend. The 19-year-old former Merchant Taylors' School student was one of 28 finalists displaying design projects in a prestigious ceremony staged at the Baltic Contemporary Arts Centre in Gateshead last Saturday (21 Sept). 